Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Chris Calohan on January 13, 2013, 08:18:28 pm
-
Which one?
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8510/8378892964_3fd424b5e9_o.jpg)
or
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8378893092_e9dbf1c991_o.jpg)
-
This is a good example of color detracting from an image.
-
OK, just to show I can swing both ways, I'll say I prefer the B&W one here.
In the color version, the color on the path distracts from the trees and fence, which is the real subject of the photo.
I really like the B&W one.
-
... In the color version, the color on the path distracts from the trees and fence...
+1
You can, however, significantly darken that area and bring it in harmony with the rest of the image, in which case the color version also works rather nicely.
-
I tried the pathway and it went south very quickly. I wonder if darkening the foreground grass significantly then darkening the lower right lead-in and middle lead out a bit more would achieve the same purpose...
I will have some new edits in the morning...thanks for your input. It does help so much.
-
Nice image! I prefer the colour version. I would darken the path and grass in both versions.
-
Of the two I prefer the B&W for this image.
Mike.
-
B&W. Colour adds nothing to the interplay of shapes and lines.
Jeremy
-
I would increase the saturation of the green leaves to counterbalance the colours at the bottom on the image.
-
I prefer the colour version, and have no idea of the reality of the scene. However, to me, the cold colour reminds me of what happens when you hang four-colour litho prints out in a sunny room. They bleach selectively.
Personally, I'd disregard nature, if that's nature, and warm it all up somewhat, as with the other, recent, water/tree close-up.
Black/white, in this instance, doesn't do anything special for me.
Rob C
-
I'm siding with the majority (for now). I like the B&W version best. I don't find the colors to be very pleasing or adding something substantial to this image.
-
This will give you an idea of what challenges I face when shooting in this here neck of the woods - which to a large degree is forest area which hasn't been touched in a hundred years or more. The types of trees and vines seen in this image grow at a phenomenal rate. Antecdotal, but an additional reinforcement: I was down in one of the parks many years ago and a city guy was spraying all the foliage with a big hose from a large container truck. I asked him what kind of fertilizer he was using, wondering if the lushness seen in the parks could be transferred to my own gardens I was in the process of planting. The poor guy was at first bewildered, then laughed and said...."fertilizer - no-no-no, this is growth retardant." I was new to the area...now I understand.
The first shot is SOOC:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8497/8378193839_d18c8682a5_c.jpg)
Last color rendition (last night, late)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8492/8379596829_2d7abbbe58_o.jpg)
Last B&W rendition (last night, later)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8088/8380676486_2e6d11fc5c_o.jpg)
It's not so much that I am overly enamored with this shot, but more so that I can learn better how to overcome certain natural challenges so I can produce infinitely better images. Thanks again for all your input. This is the only forum where feedback is as much an art as the images themselves.
-
I still prefer any of the B&W ones to any of the color attempts. The last B&W is the best, to my eye.
-
I agree with Eric. I think that in this one the color detracts from what's primarily a study in graphics.
-
I agree with Eric. I think that in this one the color detracts from what's primarily a study in graphics.
Explain the "graphics" take...it seems almost an odd descriptor, though I think I know where you are seeing this...maybe.. :)
-
I am curious about your rationale for this "poll". Why are you doing this? Is this your vision or you plan to make your image based on popular opinion? I personally like the color version, with a crop eliminating the distracting bridge. But, that is how I would have done it...not that you should do it. Why go through the extra pain of processing the image in color, if this was not your original vision?
My 2 cents.
-
Well, for me, the colour seprates the elements in the background; in b/w it pretty much merges into one amorphous mass.
The tree this side of the fence is able to stand out in both colour and b/w, so it neither gains nor loses definition from the background. I don't go for the colour of the warmed up version, but toned down a bit it could still be better than the original cold one. But this is all opinion - nobody is right and nobody wrong.
Rob C
-
I am curious about your rationale for this "poll". Why are you doing this? Is this your vision or you plan to make your image based on popular opinion? I personally like the color version, with a crop eliminating the distracting bridge. But, that is how I would have done it...not that you should do it. Why go through the extra pain of processing the image in color, if this was not your original vision?
My 2 cents.
To quote another.."Well, for me, the colour seprates the elements in the background; in b/w it pretty much merges into one amorphous mass."
The original vision was in color. That's how I saw it the first time, but I do very much like B&W, hence the conversion. The "poll, is not for me to change my imagery based on other's opinions but to learn from their suggestions. If you don't try something, you'll never know if there's a better solution. That's all.
-
Explain the "graphics" take...it seems almost an odd descriptor, though I think I know where you are seeing this...maybe.. :)
In color -- any of the color versions -- it's a tourist snapshot, the kind I see tourists snap to show the folks back in Manhattan what a southern wooded area with a walkway looks like. In B&W it's a study in verticals fighting with horizontals.
-
In color -- any of the color versions -- it's a tourist snapshot, the kind I see tourists snap to show the folks back in Manhattan what a southern wooded area with a walkway looks like. In B&W it's a study in verticals fighting with horizontals.
Exactly. Thanks, Russ. I printed it last night and on a semi-gloss (not quite lustre) Jon Cone paper on my 9-color Epson 2880 (B&W inks only) it printed quite nicely. I may change out my gloss ink for the matte and go with a matte paper today though I generally don't mess with my inks until I'm ready to do a production run on one or several images. it's a continous flow system and changing over means a flush, resucking (best word I know) to prime the new ink...PITA
-
Yeah, I know about changing inks. I print nothing but matte on my 3880, but sometimes I screw up on paper selection and the damn thing insists on changing to gloss black. Once it starts you're SOL. Then you have to change back. In the long run it's an expensive and time consuming process.